UK: Recruitment - failure to disclose information may shift burden of proof for discrimination claim

Employers can refuse to provide recruitment information to an unsuccessful job applicant who meets the advertised job criteria, but risk this being used to support a finding that there is sufficient evidence of prima facie discrimination to shift the burden of proof to the employer.

The ECJ has ruled that, in deciding whether the burden of proof shifted inMeister v Speech Design Carrier Systems, the domestic court can take into account the fact that the employer refused all access to recruitment documentation (rather than providing redacted documents), the employer's acceptance that the claimant satisfied the job criteria, and its failure to invite her to a job interview.